Down the Rabbit Hole
by Chocolatpen
Summary: Artemis wonders why she's practically lying on top of Kid. Wally's tipsy and Dick can't stop laughing. Kid Flash, Artemis and Nightwing get sucked into another dimension while on a raid at S.T.A.R. Labs. Is the situation as bad as another Criminal Syndicate, or alot worse off? With their luck, they'd be lucky to come out alive. Spitfire. AU.
1. Chapter 1: Portal

_**This is a new story I wanted to try out.**_

_**I kinda dreamed about it the other day! It was so cool and stuff, I had to write it down!**_

_**For those looking forward to Switching Sides, In Blackest Night and Flashpoint, please be patient. They're still works in progress! :]**_

_**Summary:**_

_**Kid Flash, Artemis and Nightwing get sucked into another dimension while on a raid at S.T.A.R. Labs. Confused and lost, they run into a few heroes that need help – a lot of it. Will they ever get home? And what are those heroes hiding from them? Spitfire. AU.**_

_**I hope you like this.**_

_**Please Review! :D**_

_**It brightens my day!**_

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_**Chapter 1: Portal**_

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"Artemis!" Wally shouted, reaching out to her. The archer gritted her teeth, summoning her strength before pulling herself towards the metal bar and hauling her front body in front of it.

All three heroes' bodies were parallel to the ground. Windows shattered in the distance, and the whirling sound intensified. A blue-green portal swirled with energy right behind them, sucking them in forcefully.

Kid Flash still clung onto the pole in front of him, trying to reach out to his girlfriend, who was the nearest and closest to being sucked into the portal that led to who-knows-where. It could lead to another planet, another solar system, or even another dimension. There was no guarantee that they'd come back, either.

The speedster swore. "Nightwing!"

"Working on it." Wally's best friend, the Dark Knight's protégé, grunted back as he typed furiously on his glove computer. Well, as best as he could, considering the fact that he was hanging onto dear life and clutching another metal railing with a muscled arm.

"Wally!" Artemis shouted. "Wally, listen to me."

The 19 year old in question stared at her, snapping to attention. "I'm going to jump. You're going to catch me. Swing me to reach that button-"

"_No_! Don't you know how dangerous that is?" Kid Flash's eyes widened under his cowl. "If you miss, if I _don't_ catch you..."

"Just shut up and trust me, Baywatch." The blonde snapped, before softening slightly, her eyes searching his. "_You'll catch me_."

Wally was silent for a while, before he gave his acknowledgement in the form of a stiff, curt nod. Artemis breathed in and out deeply, closing her eyes, before hauling herself more off the edge of her pole.

"One. Two. _Three_."

Artemis pushed herself off, stretching out and hoping for them best.

It seemed like she was flying, for a moment, until she realised, with a sense of dread, that she was being sucked back into the portal.

That moment, a warm, gloved hand secured itself around her right hand.

Wally caught her.

He had _done it_.

Mouth splitting open in a wide grin, she matched Wally's smile as they hung there, staring at each other in relief and thankfulness. Her left hand stretched forward and secured itself at Wally's forearm.

Before he started swinging her to the Power Down button to the side of the room, a chair which had previously been nailed down was uprooted by the sheer force of the portal, and rammed right into Nightwing.

Losing his grip on the pole, the 16 year old slipped.

Luckily enough, Wally had been positioned right in front of him, and caught him by the arm in time. Nightwing sighed, hanging onto his best friend. "This isn't asterous at all."

"No way." Artemis rolled her eyes, commenting dryly. "I would never have guessed."

Before Dick could retort, a pained grunt attracted their attention. Both heroes looked back to see Kid Flash suffering with both their weights added onto his load. His costume had split where he was balancing on the metal pole on his torso, seeing as both his hands were occupied, and he was already bruising. Not to mention the strain on his arms and the open cut on his back where a large piece of glass had flew into.

Artemis and Richard looked at each other knowingly.

"Wally, its fine." Nightwing mumbled, tapping at his friends' hand.

"No it's not." He growled back. It wasn't supposed to be that way. It was supposed to be a normal, weekly raid on the suspicious branches of any found CADMUS or S.T.A.R. labs. Nothing was supposed to happen.

All of them were supposed to be safe.

All of them were supposed to return back to base unharmed.

This wasn't in the plan.

He wasn't going to lose two of his closest friends in one night.

_No_.

Artemis knew what was going on in his mind. Being with the same person for so long, on life endangering missions, did that to you. She forced a smile. "Wally, it's gonna be fine. Bird brain here'll be able to bring us back."

Wally shook his head, willing the tears to stay back.

"Wally, we're gonna let go. It's gonna be fine." Dick reassured him gently, nodding at Artemis, although still a little pissed at the nickname. He was _not_ a bird brain!

Their hands released, the archer closing her eyes. This was better. Wally didn't have to die.

They jerked violently, but were still held back. Kid Flash kept on holding onto them, his knuckles turning white as he clutched onto his best friends with all that he had.

With wide eyes, Artemis looked to Grayson for help. "He won't let go. We won't hold for long. Dick, it's hurting him."

Richard's eyes narrowed as he looked back to his best friend. "Please, Wally. _Let go_."

He looked up at them with tears streaming freely down his face. "How do you expect me to let my best friends _die_?"

It was clear that the speedster wasn't planning on listening to them willingly. But if he didn't let go, his body was going to give in. The metal pole rested right on his hip bone and with the force and added pressure and weight, the already brittle structure was going to break.

"He's going to die." Artemis cried out, tears overflowing. Without that particular bone, Wally was a goner. The metal pole would ram right into a few important organs, and even with speedster healing, it was very possible that he might die.

"I won't let him." Dick growled decidedly. It was based on luck and chance, but it was better than letting his friend die right in front of him.

Whipping out his taser, Nightwing hesitated for a moment before shocking his friend.

At first, it looked like he wasn't going to budge.

It wasn't until a few minutes into the shock that Kid Flash let go, and all three of them plunged into the portal.

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The boy's eyes were red and puffy, a tell-tale sign that he'd been crying. Of course, his two companions couldn't say anything about that – they'd been crying too. Sobbing and tiring themselves to sleep.

He ran a hand through his short black hair tiredly, messing it up again. His hair had always been untameable, and he happened to look good with its windblown style.

Another one of their comrades had fallen the past day.

They were all weary and tired.

With every death, they seemed to spiral more and more into depression, more and more out of hand. Even though they were the good guys, they had their fair share of the dark underbelly of society and of hero-ism.

The three of them had been part of a team. One that had been basking in glory, one that had been like family. Of course, there were only three of them left alive from that team. The others had all perished slowly, from the hands of different villains.

The girl's hand clenched, squishing the domino mask that she held in her hand.

They were out in the open, yet none of them had covered their faces.

Secret identities were a thing of the past. Masks were only needed during an operation, and that was only to keep up appearances. It was _pretending_ that they were still in the past. The only one who still had a secret identity was the Bat. He managed a company to bring in profits that would help support them. Anyone else hadn't used a civilian name in probably a few years.

Superheroes weren't welcome anymore. Yes, they were _feared_, but the people disliked them, some to the point of hate. They were the ones who 'destroyed' their cities, but only during the fight with villains. They were _blamed_ for the super villains that popped up around the globe.

Her eyes zoomed out again, and she sighed. "Impulse."

The black haired boy snapped to attention, and she relayed the crime to him. "A robbery down a few streets. You shouldn't miss it, there's this guy with a gun out there holding an old woman hostage."

The other blonde haired boy scoffed. "So they're normal?"

"It looks like it." She shrugged.

Impulse rolled his eyes. "They probably wanna die." He flipped up his hood, placing his domino mask back on his eyes, before turning around to face the other two heroes. "You coming, Tigress, Red?"

Tigress laughed, slightly purring, as she lurched forward with her claws out, her hood falling into place, before running on all fours with her bow and arrows secured on her back. Impulse followed after, as Red Robin tsked, shaking his head as he shot out his grappling hook. "Hasty, hasty."

He smirked, placing the black domino mask back over his cold, ice blue eyes before swinging off after his two best friends.

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_**So, how was that? ;]**_

_**Loved it? Liked it? Or God forbid, Hated it? **_

_**Tell me what you think!**_

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	2. Chapter 2: Unfamiliar

_**Heylo, and I'm back again!**_

_**This kinda starts unblocking the huge-mega-super block for Switching Sides ;D**_

_**For those of you not familiar with me as a fanfiction author, and if you like this, you should try out my other stories and check out Switching Sides, Flashpoint, Legacy: Young Justice, In Blackest Night, It Started With a Favour, nada nada nada. **_

_**HAHA I shall not bore you with anymore :]**_

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_**Dark Goddess Of Shadows : Hmm, It's more of Artemis x Wally, but theres alot of brotherly fluff between Robin and Wally too.**_

_**Renn536 : Maybe? HAHA You'll see! ;]**_

* * *

_**Anyway, it would mean ALOT to me if you'd go onto Fictionpress, the sister site of Fanfiction, and search me up. I have the same username, Chocolatpen, and it would be SUPER AWESOME for you to read at least one of my stories there and review or something, to tell me how i can improve or if you like it.**_

_**Thanks!**_

_**Please Review!**_

_**There were MANY alerts, so please REVIEW since its the 2nd chapter already.**_

_**It helps me update faster too, and not just this story ;]**_

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_**C**__**hapter 2: Unfamiliar **_

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"Artemis… Artemis? Wake up." A familiar voice said, shaking her as he called out.

Weird. It wasn't Wally.

Artemis groaned, shifting her hand over her eyes to block out the sunlight. She rolled over, groping around for her blanket. Shit. Where'd it go? She was so tired, she just wanted to go back to sleep.

Why was her bed so... _prickly_?

Before she could ponder on it further, her hand went smack onto something – or somebody – lying next to her. She heard a muffled chuckle. Her hand felt upwards. What was this fabric? It was so distant… was it latex?

Wait.

_Latex?_

She only knew _one_ person in the _entire_ team that had a full body suit of latex, and that was...

"Kid Flash!" She gasped, snapping upright. Next to her, the only one awake, who had been biting down on his lip so far, burst out laughing his signature creepy-laugh. Nightwing rolled on the floor clutching his stomach. She rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Boys."

The three of them seemed to be in a park of some sort. She'd been lying on the grass, which explained the prickly feeling. Richard was still rolling about on the ground, laughing, while Wally lay on the grass next to her. A pang of worry hit her as she realised he was still unconscious.

Seeing her concern for his best friend, the first Robin stopped laughing with a small hiccup, and looked up at her. "He's fine, just a little roughed up around the edges. He's just recuperating now, to let his speed healing do its job."

Artemis nodded, standing up and dusting off her uniform. As she bent down to pick up a few stray arrows, Nightwing stood to clean himself off and survey their surroundings. "So, where are we, exactly?"

The young billionaire's brows furrowed slightly, creasing his domino mask. "It appears that we're in Central City. To be precise, Central City Park. Wally and I come here often; he probably brings you here on dates too." He paused, shuddering. "Don't answer that."

Artemis chuckled slightly, dumping the rest of her arrows into the green quiver that was strapped onto her back, before checking if her bow was in a usable condition. "Well, I guess we're lucky we landed here, then."

It was no secret how Central City, and its sister city, Keystone, were the friendliest towns in the entire of the United States, and maybe even the world. The people were relaxed, and practically worshipped their hero, The Flash, and his partner, Kid Flash.

"Hopefully." Nightwing commented darkly. If they'd ended up in another dimension, it could turn out like Gotham, or even worse. "Can you handle Kid? No offence, but I'm sure I'd be better at close range combat than you."

The archer smirked. "No problem. He's probably not too light for his height, though. Everything in that body's muscle."

Nightwing chuckled, showing his earlier, 'Robin' side. He winked after recovering. "I'd bet you'd know."

"Psht. No…" Artemis waved it off as she heaved the boy up, blushing red.

As she helped him up, the red head's eyes blinked back sleep before he woke up fully. Smiling, he placed a wet kiss on Artemis's cheek, swaying slightly as though he was drunk. The archer blushed even darker when the black haired boy acted bashful towards them.

Leaving Wally to recover, the three walked out from behind the bushes to the mostly populated lanes, with the speedster leaning on their resident archer heavily.

Once they were seen, whispers tore through the crowd, and it seemed as though every single person were staring at them with wide eyes. The curious thing was that they actually looked _frightened_.

The civilians in the crowd made way for the three of them, keeping a long distance away.

"Capes..."

"…What're they doing here?"

"Can't be…"

"…Are they the _**Hoods**_?"

"Careful. If they hear you…"

"…Did they change their costumes?"

Artemis growled, "What's everyone's problem?"

Nightwing was at a loss, too, and only shrugged as they approached to opening to the park.

That was when Wally decided to launch himself away from Artemis, stumbling over to a circular metal plate in the middle of a plot of grass. He seemed confused, swaying back over to the two heroes.

His voice was almost frantic. "Where is _it_?"

Artemis looked to Nightwing, who shook his head. "Where's what, Baywatch?"

"Don't call me that!" He shouted, tripping onto the archer. She looked amused, though Batman's protégé took note that the people around them flinched back at his loud words. "How can you not know? Where is it?"

Exasperated, she turned back to the other boy. "You're the best friend. What's he talking about?"

Nightwing turned back to his glove computer, typing so fast his fingers were a blur on the projectile keyboard. He began to read out loud._ "Central City prides itself with its two heroes, The Flash and his protégé, Kid Flash. One of the ways they show the two speedsters their appreciation is part of the city's own decorum. Multiple statues of the first Flash, the current and most famous Flash, and Kid Flash, were constructed. The most popular one is the two storey high statue of the Flash outside of the Town Hall, followed by the fully bronze statue of all three Flashes outside of the Flash memorial museum…"_

Artemis chuckled. "I now know why Wall's always so big-headed."

"There it is." Dick said, reading out his findings, _"The newest statue is one of Kid Flash, only recently constructed at the opening of Central City Park, the biggest and best of its kind in the entire continent. Standing at six meters and made entirely of only-" _He whistled appreciatively, before continuing. _"Granite and marble."_

The archer rolled her eyes, looking back to a frantically searching Wally, who was already speeding around tipsily. She shrugged, looking at the crowd behind them. If it would help them understand, she'd ask. Approaching a few people, she addressed them. "Hey. Seen a statue around here? Of that guy, about 2 stories tall and made of white stone?"

They were speechless, stumbling back a few paces as they looked at her with wide, pleading eyes. A little girl burst into tears at the sight of her, while her parents seemed terrified at the thought that her attention would be drawn to them.

She groaned, ignoring the little girls' parents as she knelt down in front of the girl. "Hey, hey. Why're you crying? There's nothing scary here or anything. We're heroes. We'll protect you."

The girl only started wailing louder, and her parents snatched her back, running away to the car park as fast as they could.

Frustrated and deeply confused, the archer turned back to the two boys, who both shrugged. Even Wally had calmed down by then.

It was deathly silent.

Until, pounding footsteps on the pavement sounded out. Further behind, someone could be heard distinctly, calling out a theft.

Both Wally and Artemis looked to Dick, who was by far the most efficient and least attention grabbing, compared to their own powers and abilities.

The boy shrugged, slipping two short staffs out of his compartments. He twirled them around before joining them together to form a long Bo Staff with a sharp click.

Unconsciously, both superheroes stepped backwards to let Nightwing take centre stage.

The thief, clad in full black and wearing a hat that covered his eyes, ran into sight. The crowd parted for him hurriedly, leaving way for a woman to come running in behind the thief, still calling out for help.

When she saw the three of them, she immediately stopped in her tracks and _stared_. Shock and … terror registered in her eyes as she froze on the spot.

The thief hadn't seen them yet, continuing to run forward.

Nightwing smacked him in the stomach with his staff, easily overpowering the thief. He was sent flying back. His hat fell off, as did the woman's purse that he'd snatched, and he landed on the floor with a thud.

In seconds, the staff was aimed at his neck threateningly.

Fear shone in his eyes, and the most shocking thing happened.

The man got _down on his knees_, and started _begging for his life_.

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_**Well, that was a shocking ending.**_

_**Wanna know what happens next? ;]**_

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